Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

International element as aggravation

Legal area

Court

8 Jun 2022

HKSAR v. SHIAKAMIRI ELIZABETH IRAGO

Citation

[2022] HKCA 812
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC19/2022

Leave to appeal was refused because the sentencing judge followed the correct sentencing procedure: identified the correct guideline band and starting point, properly assessed aggravating (international) and mitigating factors, applied an appropriate plea discount, declined duress mitigation after offering a Newton hearing, and correctly left any executive decision on assistance credit to the Chief Executive; the appeal was not reasonably arguable.
3 Mar 2016

HKSAR v. MASEMBO KILUGAJA JORAM

Citation

HKSAR v. MASEMBO KILUGAJA JORAM
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC271/2015

Leave to appeal out of time was granted because the applicant was not advised by counsel at sentencing; the sentencing judge erred in failing to state the starting point and the enhancement applied. Applying the Lau Tak Ming arithmetic yields a starting point of 16 years 3 months for 450g heroin; applying a 9‑month enhancement for the international element produces a 17‑year starting point, reduced by one‑third for the guilty plea, resulting in a sentence of 11 years and 4 months which replaces the original 12‑year sentence.
31 Mar 2015

HKSAR v. YEUNG HO WAI

Citation

HKSAR v. YEUNG HO WAI
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC271/2013

Although the trial judge erred by omitting certain mandatory phrases in the duress direction and softening mandatory language, the summing up as a whole made clear that if the jury accepted the applicant's account (or found it maybe true) they must acquit; suspicion is not enough for knowledge though knowledge can be inferred from circumstances; evidence of parallel trading was relevant and appropriately qualified; and the sentence of 22 years (starting point 21 increased by one year for importation) was within the correct range and not manifestly excessive given 1.14 kg of methamphetamine an…
8 Jun 2010

HKSAR v. RIZIKI RIZIKI HAMDUNI

Citation

HKSAR v. RIZIKI RIZIKI HAMDUNI
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC326/2009

Given the quantity of heroin (958.39g) a 21-year starting point with a 2-year enhancement for importation was appropriate; the only substantial mitigation was the guilty plea for which a one-third discount was applied, yielding the imposed sentence which the court upheld and refused leave to appeal.
23 Jun 2009

HKSAR v. MOHAMED OMAR ALLY

Citation

HKSAR v. MOHAMED OMAR ALLY
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC407/2008

Given the quantity of heroin (about 1.07 kg) and the aggravating international element, a starting point in the region of 23 years was appropriate; after the customary one-third discount the resulting sentence of 15 years 4 months was not manifestly excessive and the application for leave to appeal was dismissed.
20 Jul 2007

HKSAR v. KITA YASUSHI AND ANOTHER

Citation

HKSAR v. KITA YASUSHI AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC470/2006

The court granted leave, treated the hearing as the appeal, reduced the starting point for the credit-card related offences to 3 years and for the passport offences to 18 months, applied the usual guilty-plea discount yielding 28 months for the main charges (concurrent) and 12 months for the passport charges of which 4 months are consecutive, and held that although the judge erred in imposing excessive sentences on the passport charges the overall effective sentence of 32 months was not inappropriate and thus remains unchanged.

Hong Kong Case Law

HKSAR v. SHIAKAMIRI ELIZABETH IRAGO

HKSAR v. MASEMBO KILUGAJA JORAM

HKSAR v. YEUNG HO WAI

HKSAR v. RIZIKI RIZIKI HAMDUNI

HKSAR v. MOHAMED OMAR ALLY

HKSAR v. KITA YASUSHI AND ANOTHER